Consensus

I have been serving on a committee for the school district looking at the current facilities and preparing to make suggestions for what needs to be considered for the next 5, 10, 15 years. There have been 20-30 people at each meeting and it's been interesting to watch and listen to other people's perspectives when we went to a facility. Everyone can be looking at one thing and seeing many different things but there was one place we visited that people either seemed to see black or white - the football stadium. I missed the big powwow Monday night where the final recommendations were made but heard that when it came to proposing a new football stadium, there were definitely two different camps.

The hope for our group is that we would reach a consensus, not a majority rule but a consensus where we could make a recommendation that all might not agree with but there was some common ground. It sounds like that happened with the football stadium...down the list aways...with plenty of reservations. It will be interesting to see how it turns out someday down the road.

Yet what struck me was the idea of consensus. An idea of agreeing to find common ground. It might require compromises, adjustments, modifications but it's the idea of working together to get to a common point - not my point or your point but a common point - that struck me about this exercise and this group.

I enjoyed my time on the committee, saw things I hadn't seen before and met some people I didn't know. It was a good experience and I hope to see the recommedations come to fruition because most of them will certainly enhance the academic experience and opportunities for our children. Secretly, I hope we get a new stadium too.